Back in November, before leaving town for a weekend, Nicole Helprin and her two kids wrote a few wishes on tags and hung them on a tree in front of their Portland, Ore., home. When Helprin got back, the tree was covered with tags bearing wishes from the community.
“The Wishing Tree,” which is still getting filled with wishes months later, is set up with a sign, clipboard, markers and a plastic bag of shipping labels so that passersby can contribute.